The body of a 14-year-old girl who was allegedly lured to her death by a convicted sex offender has been found in a lake.

Police in the central German state of Hesse were reportedly led to the lake by the prime suspect, who is alleged to have tricked the teen into meeting after grooming her online.

Local media reported that the suspect, who has not been named, had been on a rehabilitation programme following his release from prison for an earlier sex offence.

The victim – named as schoolgirl Ayleen Ambs – went missing 10 days ago from her home in the village of Gottenheim, in the neighbouring state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, in south-western Germany, near the French border.

Her body was found in Teufelssee lake on Friday, 29th July, some 300 kilometres (186 miles) away.

Police were reportedly led to the lake by the prime suspect, who is already in custody, according to local media.

He was seized and questioned in Kassel a day before Ayleen’s body was found.

Although it is unclear where she was killed, Ayleen’s clothes were reportedly found in the suspect’s apartment.

Coroners carrying out an autopsy hope to find further answers to her death, but her extended immersion in the lake could make that difficult, according to local media.

Freiburg Police Headquarters said in a statement released on 30th July and obtained by Newsflash: “The forensic examination revealed that the dead person found in the Wetterau district in Hesse is the missing 14-year-old from Gottenheim.”

The police had previously said in a statement on 26th July, when they were still looking for the missing girl: “According to a witness, on the day of her disappearance, Thursday, 21st July, 2022, the girl was probably on the Stadtbahn bridge at Freiburg main station between 7.30pm and 8.30pm.

“She is said to have been accompanied by a girl of about the same age, about 175 centimetres tall, with long brown hair, wearing black hot pants and a crop top or top.”

German police are set to hold a press conference today (Monday, 1st August).